1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope processor that generates an image, to be adequately displayed for medical examination, on the basis of an optical image of a subject illuminated by excitation light and/or reference light.
2. Description of the Related Art
An autofluorescence endo scope system which directs excitation light in order to make an organ autofluoresce and which also captures an autofluorescence image of an organ is already known. In general, diseased tissue autofluoresces less than healthy tissue. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 2002-143079 and 2006-192058 propose an autofluorescence endo scope system which is able to provide an image for assisting in medical examination by taking advantage of the above properties.
The color of an autofluorescence sub-image of diseased tissue is sometimes different from that of healthy tissue. In addition, the color of an autofluorescence image is mainly greenish. Accordingly, it is difficult to discriminate small differences in color between diseased and healthy tissues. The autofluorescence endoscope system proposed above is unable to display such a slight color difference clearly.